Seconds Decide Işıkkent Sprint Hill Climb

The 2017 İzmir Cup continued on Sunday 29 October with the Işıkkent Sprint Hill Climb. The event was organised by the Aydın Automobile Sports Club (AYOSK) with Ege Asal Metal as sponsor, and took place over two runs on the gravel course at Işıkkent in Bornova.Including the practice runs, the Category 1 drivers were separated by less than a second on the first run, but the gap opened up on the second. Opel Motorsport driver Kaan Kara took the win and also set the best time to become the fastest driver of the day. Mithat Diker, who has been competing on hill climb courses for more than 40 years, finished second, ahead of the young drivers he has brought into the sport. Yüksel Duvarcı, the Category 1 leader in the cup, finished third and held his position with the points he scored.
Cem Doğrular, a 17-year-old talent from İzmir, set the second-best time of the day in his Fiat Palio Kit Car to win Category 2. The experienced Mustafa Kurun was second in this category, with Bahadır Sevinç third. Esmanur Gülbahar, who was fifth in the category, won the Ladies' class and returned to Bursa with a trophy.
In Category 3, Erdal Oral, the only starter in his class in a Ford Escort MKII, had a difficult moment when his engine caught fire at the finish line of the second run, but he took the winner's trophy with the 10 points he had scored on the first run.At the end of the event, the top finishers received their trophies from AYSOK President Kuvvet Erim. Erim said he was very pleased with the interest in the hill climb, thanked Mithat Diker for his contribution to the event and wished for it to continue.
The 2017 İzmir Cup will conclude with an autocross event at the Menderes course on Sunday 19 November 2017.